Wednesday's Sports Update : Owls Thump Houston Wednesday At U.H., 8-1
HOUSTON -- Freshman third baseman Anthony Rendon went 4-for-5 with a home run and three RBI to lead a 15-hit Rice attack as the No. 4-ranked Owls baseball team defeated crosstown rival Houston 8-1 Wednesday night at UH's Cougar Field.The contest was not a Conference USA regular season game between the league rivals, but it did give the Blue & Gray a 2-0 lead in the annual best-of-five series for the Silver Glove Trophy as the city's collegiate champion. Rice won the first meeting between the teams by a score of 9-2 back on Feb. 25. The series resumes with three C-USA league games to be played at Cougar Field in early May.
Rice chipped away for some early runs before expanding the margin later in the evening. Second baseman Brock Holt led off the third inning with a walk and moved to second on an errant pick-off attempt. He scored on an RBI single up the middle by Rick Hague. In the fourth, freshman Craig Manuel stroked a two-out single and advanced on a wild pitch. He scored on a base hit to left by Jimmy Comerota, who took alertly second base on the throw. Comerota's hustle helped lead to another run as Holt followed with an RBI single to right that stretched the lead to 3-0.
Houston answered with an unearned run in the bottom of the inning. Caleb Ramsey led off with a double to left field and scored on an infield throwing error. Rice worked out of the jam with a pop-up and double play holding a 3-1 lead.
The Cougars had a runner reach scoring position in the fifth but the Owls avoided any further damage on the scoreboard. UH loaded the bases in the sixth, but freshman reliever Andrew Benak induced a ground ball to the left side that Rendon, Holt and Comerota turned into an inning-ending double play.
The Owls turned the momentum-building defensive play into a run in its next at bat. Chad Mozingo led off the seventh with a double to the wall in center field. He scored on Rendon's RBI single up the middle. The Blue & Gray then erupted for a four-run eighth on three hits. The big blow was a two-run home run to left by Rendon that was his fifth round-tripper of the year. Five Owls had two or more hits on the night, including Holt with three. Holt, Mozingo and Comerota all scored twice in the game.
Almost lost in all the offensive fireworks was some solid efforts by the Rice pitchers. Junior Mark Haynes started on the mound and fired 3.0 shutout innings while allowing just two hits. Abe Gonzales earned his first career win on the mound with 1.1 innings of two-hit relief. Jared Rogers, Andrew Benak and Matt Evers all combined to keep UH off the scoreboard for the final 4.2 frames.
Rice improved to 12-5 with the team's second-straight win. Houston fell to 4-15 on the year.
The game was the first of a four-straight on the road for Rice. The Owls continue the current road swing through the weekend with three games at Southern Miss in Hattiesburg to open Conference USA action. Friday's opening game of the series is set for a 6:30 pm start. The game will be broadcast live on the radio in the Houston area on KTRU (91.7 FM).
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